GUIRR UPDATE Susan Sloan, Director FDP Meeting * May 11, 2015
GUIRR s Mission GUIRR s formal mission is to convene senior-most representatives from government, universities, and industry to define and explore critical issues related to the national and global science and technology agenda that are of shared interest; to frame the next critical question stemming from current debate and analysis; and to incubate activities of on-going value to the stakeholders. The forum is designed to facilitate candid dialogue among participants, catalyze and foster follow-on activities, and, where appropriate, carry awareness of consequences to the wider public.
Executive Committee Jacques Gansler, Professor and Roger C. Lipitz Chair in Public Policy and Private Enterprise, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland at College Park (university co-chair) Gordon England, President, E6 Partners, LLC (industry co-chair) C. D. (Dan) Mote, Jr., President, National Academy of Engineering France Córdova, Director, National Science Foundation Catherine Woteki, Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics and Chief Scientist, USDA Erik Antonsson, Corporate Director of Technology, Northrop Grumman Susan Sauer Sloan, Director, GUIRR
February 2015 Meeting Cross-Sector Impact of the Smart Grid The economic and technological environments surrounding the power supply business have resulted in the emergence of new players in the power market and a demand for new technologies. New power technologies need to accommodate countless sources of power generation and allow for interoperability between these sources. This meeting explored: (i) the applicability of the Internet of Things (IoT) to the energy sector, (ii) the process used to catalyze the development of cyber security and privacy standards, (iii) partnerships and the role that state governments play, and (iv) efforts to train and advance the engineering and IT workforce to support shifts in technology. Members identified successes and challenges that the energy sector has encountered and considered the application to other areas.
June 2015 Meeting Unmanned Aircraft Systems: Use & Regulation The use and regulation of civil unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), commonly known as drones, has become a hot topic of conversation, fueled, in part, by several sensationalized landings in the nation s capital and elsewhere. Is our current airspace management system prepared for UAS and other autonomous aircraft? This workshop will explore (i) the potential applications for recent technological advances in UAS, (ii) the existing and evolving regulations to promote safety without inhibiting innovation or economic advancement, and (iii) the privacy and security concerns that are unique to UAS. Our focus will be on aircraft that are (a) less than 55lbs, (b) do not carry weapons of any sort, and (c) are used for personal, commercial, or research purposes. We will consider practical policy strategies to manage and safely deploy commercial, public, and private UAS in U.S. airspace.
GUIRR Webinar Series January 21, 2015: Fostering Collaboration Among our Nation's Federal Labs, Industry, and Research Oriented Universities Introduction to the Center for Innovation (CFI), which works with eleven U.S. Federal Agencies under various Federal Partnership intermediary agreements, facilitating and enabling the integration of industry, academic, and government research and discovery with venture capital, talent and know-how. CFI is focused on the commercialization of technology-based research outcomes from federal labs, universities, and industry, supporting the evolutionary development of integrated industry clusters. March 6, 2015: The Postdoctoral Experience Revisited Overview of a newly released NRC study that considered the large and growing population of postdoctoral researchers, the spread of postdoctoral positions from physical and biomedical sciences to other fields such as engineering, the humanities and social sciences, the relatively low pay postdoctoral fellows receive, and the fact that many postdoctoral fellows end up working in non-research positions. The presentation discussed the six main recommendations made by the committee, the types of actions required to implement them, and, especially with regard to the recommendation regarding compensation, the rationale for the recommendation. The six relate to (1) period of service, (2) title, (3) career development, (4) compensation, (5) mentoring, and (6) data collection. March 24, 2015: DOE s Better Buildings Challenge The Better Buildings Challenge brings together stakeholders from government, industry and universities to identify mechanisms for increasing energy efficiency and lowering cost. April 27, 2015: America's Knowledge Economy: A State by State Review Elsevier, in partnership with the Council of State Governments, provide for the first time a data driven assessment of every state s comparative knowledge economy advantages based on the research conducted and new knowledge it produces.
Upcoming Webinars 1:00 pm Eastern Time Free * Registration required June 5, 2015: The Future Of Mineral Resources and the Products That Require Their Capabilities The presenters will provide an update on the status of key mineral resources around the world and will discuss what one major corporation has done to create a validated process for addressing the mineral resource supply and utilization issues facing the world in the next few decades. Presenters: Thomas Graedel, Yale University & Steven Duclos, GE July 17, 2015: The Newly Released U54 Grant Mechanism Presenters from NIH NINDS
Advance relations between the three sectors (G-U-I); defines and explores critical cross-cutting issues related to science, technology, and innovation on both the national and global scale www.nas.edu/guirr Policy FEDERAL DEMONSTRATION PARTNERSHIP Collaborative U-G initiative to streamline the administration of federally sponsored research www.thefdp.org Process Project-oriented group; undertakes initiatives that remove barriers and catalyze U-I collaborations www.uidp.org Practice
Congressional Charge to the NRC To conduct a study of federal regulations and reporting requirements with specific attention to those directed at research universities Ad hoc committee under the auspices of the Committee on Science, Technology, and Law (CSTL) and the Board on Higher Education and Workforce (BHEW) Chair: Larry Faulkner, President Emeritus, The University of Texas at Austin Vice Chair: Harriet Rabb, Vice President and General Counsel, The Rockefeller University Committee on Federal Research Regulations and Reporting Requirements: A New Framework for Research Universities in the 21 st Century Committee meeting #1 held February 12-13, 2015 (Washington, DC) Committee meeting #2 held April 16-17, 2015 (Washington, DC) 1 st regional meeting to be held in California in May 2 nd regional meeting to be held in Texas in October Report expected in Spring of 2016 Study to be submitted to the Senate and House Committees on Appropriations Funded by the U.S. Department of Education
Thank you! Questions? Susan Sloan, Director, GUIRR 202-334-1706 ssloan@nas.edu www.nas.edu/guirr